I 

115TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5968 

To encourage online workforce training. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 24, 2018 

Mr. LARSEN of Washington (for himself and Mrs. TORRES) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and the 

Workforce 

A BILL 

To encourage online workforce training. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Online Job Training 

5 Act of 2018’’. 

6 SEC. 2. ONLINE WORKFORCE TRAINING PROGRAMS. 

7 Section 169 of the Workforce Investment and Oppor8 tunity Act (29 U.S.C. 3224) is amended by adding at the 

9 end the following: 

10 ‘‘(d) ONLINE WORKFORCE TRAINING PROGRAM.— 


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1 ‘‘(1) NATIONAL ONLINE WORKFORCE TRAINING

2 GRANTS.— 

3 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—From the amount ap4 propriated under subparagraph (G), the Sec5 retary shall award National Online Workforce 

6 Training Grants on a competitive basis to eligi7 ble entities to enable such entities to carry out 

8 workforce training programs using distance9 learning technologies, such as the Internet. An 

10 entity may leverage such grant with other Fed11 eral, State, local, and private resources, in 

12 order to expand the participation of businesses, 

13 employees, and other individuals in such train14 ing programs. 

15 ‘‘(B) ELIGIBLE ENTITY DEFINED.—For 

16 purposes of this subsection, the term ‘eligible 

17 entity’ means an educational institution, com18 munity-based organization, nonprofit organiza19 tion, State board or local board, or unit of gen20 eral local government, which provides online 

21 workforce training. 

22 ‘‘(C) PRIORITY.—Priority in awarding 

23 grants under this paragraph shall be given to 

24 eligible entities that— 


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1 ‘‘(i) have demonstrated experience in 

2 implementing and operating online work3 force training and education programs; 

4 ‘‘(ii) have demonstrated experience co5 ordinating activities, where appropriate, 

6 with the workforce investment system; and 

7 ‘‘(iii) conduct training for in-demand 

8 industry sectors or occupations. 

9 ‘‘(D) DATA COLLECTION.—Each eligible 

10 entity receiving a grant under this paragraph 

11 shall collect and report information on— 

12 ‘‘(i) the number of participants in the 

13 workforce training program funded under 

14 this paragraph; 

15 ‘‘(ii) the services received by the par16 ticipants; 

17 ‘‘(iii) program completion rates; 

18 ‘‘(iv) factors determined as signifi19 cantly interfering with program participa20 tion or completion; 

21 ‘‘(v) the rate of job placement; and 

22 ‘‘(vi) other information as determined 

23 as needed by the Secretary. 

24 ‘‘(E) OUTREACH.—Each eligible entity re25 ceiving a grant under this paragraph shall conVerDate Sep 11 2014 20:21 May 31, 2018 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5968.IH H5968

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1 duct outreach activities to disseminate informa2 tion to workforce investment boards, local gov3 ernments, educational institutions, and other 

4 workforce training organizations about— 

5 ‘‘(i) the workforce training program 

6 funded under this paragraph; and 

7 ‘‘(ii) the results of such, and the best 

8 practices with respect to workforce training 

9 identified as a result of, program. 

10 ‘‘(F) PERFORMANCE LEVELS.—The Sec11 retary shall establish indicators of performance 

12 that will be used to evaluate the performance of 

13 eligible entities under this paragraph in car14 rying out the activities required under this 

15 paragraph. Prior to awarding a grant under 

16 this paragraph to an eligible entity, the Sec17 retary shall negotiate and reach agreement with 

18 the entity regarding the levels of performance 

19 expected to be achieved by the entity on the in20 dicators of performance. 

21 ‘‘(G) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIA22 TIONS.—There are authorized to be appro23 priated to the Secretary to carry out this para24 graph $50,000,000 for fiscal years 2019 

25 through 2029. 


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1 ‘‘(2) ONLINE TRAINING PROGRAM CLEARING2 HOUSE.— 

3 ‘‘(A) DESCRIPTION OF GRANT.—From the 

4 amounts appropriated under subparagraph (D), 

5 the Secretary shall award one grant to an eligi6 ble institution of higher education to provide 

7 the services described in this paragraph. 

8 ‘‘(B) ELIGIBILITY.—To be eligible to re9 ceive a grant under this paragraph, an institu10 tion of higher education shall— 

11 ‘‘(i) have demonstrated the ability to 

12 disseminate research on best practices for 

13 implementing workforce investment activi14 ties; and 

15 ‘‘(ii) be a national leader in producing 

16 cutting-edge research on technology related 

17 to workforce development systems under 

18 this title. 

19 ‘‘(C) SERVICES.—The postsecondary edu20 cational institution that receives a grant under 

21 this paragraph shall use such grant— 

22 ‘‘(i) to provide technical assistance to 

23 entities that receive grants under para24 graph (1); 


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1 ‘‘(ii) to collect and nationally dissemi2 nate the data gathered by entities that re3 ceive grants under paragraph (1); and 

4 ‘‘(iii) to disseminate best practices 

5 identified by the Secretary. 

6 ‘‘(D) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIA7 TIONS.—There are authorized to be appro8 priated to the Secretary to carry out this sub9 section $1,000,000 for fiscal years 2019 

10 through 2029.’’. 

Æ 


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